0855: got called in for a half day's work @ BCIT
1030-1430: worked in the TLM Test Centre in NE1 for Trades (Power Engineering, Piping, Machinery, etc...)
1445: hit the gym afterwards since i was already there
Wednesday, April 6 2005
1200: go for a jog: 10min. walk up the hill, run 10min. East, run 10min. West, 10min. walk down the hill
-can't rmmbr what else happened, blogger was down so i couldn't record it
Thursday, April 7 2005
1400: went to gym @ Bonsor; right before i headed out decided to check email - got 2 emails about my resume posted on workopolis.com, both want interviews. cool.
-just as i was reading the emails, phone rings n it's from one of the companies that emailed me: allegis group canada, some recruiting company. booked a phone interview w/ for monday afternoon.
-gym @ Bonsor, grabbed a snack @ Metro, picked up a cheap pair of flip flops (wishful thinking, dreaming of the beach)
cutting
1100: get a call from bcit asking if i can cover the same position i did on tuesday for the 11, 15, 18. i'm ok for the 15 & 18, but i can't do the 11th cuz i've already booked the phone interview for that time slot. uy....O_o ah well.
1205: do the jog again. hmm...hopefully i can keep this up like 2/3 times a week, that'd be good
1305: beautiful sunny day, soo...i help pops mow the lawn.
2245: meet up w/ mr. vuong n dudu to go catch Sin City w/ some other ppl, but the theatre's pretty packed so we walk to the theatre next door n catch Sahara instead. not a bad flick, good action, kinda funny, decent entertainment.
0045: stop in for a post-movie/midnight snack @ Boston Pizza, just eat n chill for a bit...
0300: crash.
barber shop - Saturday, April 9 2005
-bobo gets a haircut:
-help pops dig up holes in the yard n plant the 2 trees they bought a few weeks ago
-think about it: $29.99 for a whole tree?? your very own living, growing, fruit-bearing tree?? what a deal...
Monday, April 11 2005
hmmm, let's see...got a call to invigilate & administer some kinda interactive test tomorrow morning @ BCIT, somethin technical/computerish O_o sucks cuz it's only 2hrs of work, but nyeh...i live close enough to make it worthwhile. what else...phone interview w/ Allegis Group today went pretty well i think, should hear from them w/in a week...got 2 days of work coming up in the TLM Test Center @ BCIT on the 15th & 18th...yeh...that's all that's worth remembering for now i guess. ahh yes -
DAY XIV: Swim, Shop, Share - Friday, February 18
1000: wake, first good, long sleep in a while. Head back East on HK Island to Sau Kei Wan to Uncle Tyrone’s; forgot some stuff.
- went for some much needed exercise, swam @ this pool in Morrison Park. Nice Olympic-sized pool, water was warm though…O_o
- Junky takes me shopping @ all these lil shops along Johnston Road, they got lotsa sample stuff, back-door factory stuff, etc…really cheap. Think I bought like 5 items. I’d originally thought it’d be better to pack more stuff with me, that way I wouldn’t be tempted to buy more b/c I’d already have what I needed, but w/ stuff this cheap…it’s like, it’d be a waste if I didn’t buy it, cuz if I end up buying it back in Canada it’d just be like double/triple the price! Uy…so much for the “no shopping” ideal. Found these wicked sais too, wanted to buy ‘em so bad, but decided not to. =(
1745: Junky n Angel bought some stuff too, so the 3 of us stop by the bar in Wan Chai to unload some of our bags, then take the MTR north (across the ocean) over to Prince Edward Station for some more shopping along Fa Yuen St. etc…
1900: finally talk to Colin on the phone, tell him we’ll hook up for dinner. Junky takes us to this Korean bbq place…mmmm…good food, n my first taste of raw beef…
- went for dessert later…ooohh…it was good, kinda sad cuz I didn’t have the camera w/ me to capture the moment…nyeh….ah well…
- finally went home after a while, chilled in the 5th floor suite w/ the Junk, got to talk n catch up, reminisce a bit…about all the mischief we got into when he was back in B.C., surprisingly he remembers it a lot more about it than I do. He’s reminding me of things I did that I had totally forgotten about after the accident, lol, but I guess that’s a good thing. A lot of them aren’t things worth remembering anyway. Said he can tell I’ve changed quite a bit since the accident, even after having seen me for only a few days out here.
- Just shared about how life’s been these past 4-5 years, school, family, relationships, goals, tells me about his “work” too as a model. I call it “work” b/c it’s like this: he gets paid to go on wicked trips to Thailand, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, etc…for “work”. He showed me these pictures from this one shoot he did on some island called Saipan! Friggin gorgeous place: white sandy beaches, green mountains, sapphire blue water…aah…that’s gotta be my next vacation spot.
0300: crash.
End of Day XIV
(Full Album)
DAY XV: Lamma Island - Saturday, February 19
1100: wake, got a call from mom reminding me to call her friend Uncle Patrick (this principal dude of some school in Kwun Tong she wants me to meet), so I call him, arrange to visit him at his school on Monday. Back to sleep
1200: finally get up, get up, and true to my “old man” nature, go downstairs to the fruit stand n buy 3 plums for $10.
1230: walk into some place for breakfast, can’t read the menu cuz it’s all in Chinese but I ask for something w/ meat AND veggies. Waitress gives me a funny look n then nods. I look down as she walks away…damn, still got that stuff on my thumb from China! O_o
- just sitting there when my food came, I all of a sudden just started thinking to myself, and felt so overwhelmed with gratitude at the chance to just be here. Not just the fact that I was in HK, but just to be there; sitting, eating a hot meal…to think that at this same time 3 years ago I was hobbling around the hallways of VGH attached to an IV pole I decided to name Tracy. Hmm…I wonder where that pole is now?
- Back home after walking around for a bit, bored so I finally figure out Uncle Chung’s complicated DVD/Home Theatre setup n watch the latest Steven Chow (creator/star of Shaolin Soccer) flick:
Kung Fu Hustle
1430: got a call from Auntie Helen (Junky’s mom), her, Uncle Chung, n a few friends are going for a short trip over to Lamma Island, invites me to come along. Junky’s gotta see a director about a soft drink commercial, so he’ll meet up w/ us there for dinner later.
1530: meet them @ the Star Ferry terminal on HK Island n catch a 20min. ferry ride to Lamma Island:
- lots of fresh seafood for sale, had some hot dessert tofu & fresh pineapple before walking around the island. Beautiful place, lotsa tourists come here, bet it’s even nice in summer…o yeah! Did you know Chow Yun Fat is originally from Lamma Island? Yeah, we walked by an elementary school that he donated a whole whack of money to…
1810: after basically walking the island from East to West, we end off at some marketplace/touristy area. I take off on my own for a bit, and find Junky who comes on his own while the rest of the “older folks” go sit down @ the restaurant: Tai Hing.
1900: sit down to dinner prepared by owner of the restaurant; their friend who’s a wicked chef: fried shrimp balls, “elite” sweet n sour pork, some rare type of fish, n a whole whack of other stuff…mmm…oh me oh my, what a dinner!
- afterwards, take one of their boats over to Cheung Chau island, where they’re originally from
- these islands are the paradise that I totally need after spending a few weeks in noisy, stuffy HK: less dense, less polluted, they don’t even have cars on these islands! Everyone walks/rides bicycles, even cops! The only gas-powered vehicle is this tiny van that’s used as an ambulance. Ahh…peace n quiet
- checked out their house in Cheung Chau: Auntie Helen’s very proud of it, it’s been her project for like 2 years. It’s amazing, like totally out of a magazine! Crazy fireplaces, white marble floors everywhere, mirrored stainless steel doors, designer everything…crazy…I didn’t even feel like I should take pictures cuz it was too nice…
- chilled in Junky’s room for a bit, checked out his crazy gadgets (u know how hongers love gadgets), he’s got one of those big ass horns u see people in Australia use, u know, those big ones that have to rest on the floor, n u blow it n it makes this crazy weird low-pitched “boing-y” sound?? Yeah, one of those…
0200: walk out to the edge of the island for some late night snack food…
0330: crash.
End of DAY XV
(Full Album)
DAY XVI – Cheung Chau Island & Desserts - Sunday, February 20
1015: wake up. Grab a snack in the market, and then head to church.
- service was in Chinese so I didn’t retain too much, but there was one hymn that caught my attention: “Precious Lord, Take My Hand” written by Thomas A. Dorsey. Liked the lyrics & the tune (downloaded it after I got back to Vancouver actually, n it turns out it’s been performed by Elvis??)
- went for some lunch afterwards, then visit Junky’s Grandparents (Uncle Chung’s parents)
- they haven’t seen me in a looong time. They know my parents too when they lived in Canada for a while, n Junky’s grandpa is a crazy fisherman (all Cheung Chau ppl are crazy fishermen) so he used to go to Canada all the time n go fishing in the Queen Charlotte Islands. It was good to see them again
- flipped through a lotta old pictures n stuff @ Grandma & Grandpa Wong’s place, even saw a few that I remembered
1300: alright, time for some adventure. Junky takes me on a walking tour of his childhood stomping grounds:
- Cheung Chau ppl also happen to be well known as Dragon boat Racers. They’re among the best in HK
- Went to this spot by the sea called “Cheung Po Tsai” cave; a big tourist attraction now. Back in the day, there used to be a pirate (a Chinese pirate?!) called Cheung Po Tsai, n the cave is supposedly where he stashed his loot.
- Took a ferry as a quick shortcut to the other side of the island where we walked up to the top of this hill that’s pretty much the “top” of the island where you get a good view of Cheung Chau. The island’s actually shaped kinda like a dumbbell, skinny in the middle, w/ 2 larger land masses on either end
1530: get back to the house for dinner, Auntie Helen’s cooking!
- tired from the walk, us boys crash in the living room in front of the TV for a “20” minute nap, turns out to be an hour O_o uy…
1935: after dinner, rush to catch the ferry back to HK Island, get picked up by Angel @ the terminal
2000: drop off bags @ apartment, head off to Tsing Yee for some signature dessert: Yeung Jee Gum Low (fresh mango, milk, juice, tapioca, fruit pulp)
- you can get this dessert at other places, but according to the locals, the street vendors have the best stuff, and they only come out @ night
- after that, start driving East to some other place called “Lucky Dessert”
- took a wrong turn, went into some unauthorized area (unintentionally) & got stopped by some security guards. No big deal, except they wanted to fine us for “trespassing”, so I tell Junky not to give ‘em ne info/sign the form that they gave him (which would’ve resulted in him admitting fault & possibly being fined up to $5000HKD)
- security dorks wouldn’t let us go, since we refused to show ID they call the cops…yeesh…dumb honger cops…
- after about a 30min. holdup, finally got outta there (takes too long to explain/type, but we didn’t end up paying anything), get to the dessert place n get some more sugar…
1130: get home, shower, plan out the next few days, crash.
End of DAY XVI
(Full Album)
*whew* k, gotta get some sleep...work @ 0830 tomorrow... O_o